People’s greed is responsible for inflicting brutal wrath on their lives by making natural resources unsustainable to supporting life, says Dilip Bidawat
Modern development takes place with two conflicting ideologies. One is the pursuit of money by exploiting resources indiscriminately and the second talks about balanced development. The two ideologies are in conflict. The principle of equilibrium and development states that production and development should be done to meet human needs, to improve the quality of life of the people living on earth, to produce equipoise and distribution of production and resources and income. This would help maintain the balance of the environment for the future generations.
At present, development is progressing with the first ideology in which limited people are inspired by the blindness of all the Earth’s resources and profit-making. The result is not only the emerging environmental problems, but the disposal of solid and liquid waste from production process, which is turning into a serious crisis.
This can be seen in the most vivid manner in the case of various rivers. Crores have been washed down the drain — practically — in the name of cleansing the Ganga. This is true for almost all the rivers in this country, especially in north India, which have become so polluted that they cannot be considered as life-giving in any aspect. In the name of development, harmful chemical waste discharged from the factories on the banks of these rivers have polluted them to such an extent that they are no longer rivers but have been completely transformed into dirty drains. Eventually, not only human life but all living creatures suffers. This has given rise to new life-threatening diseases among humans and also poses a threat to aquatic life which is affecting the whole ecosystem.
Here are some case studies.
Case 1
The Luni river of Rajasthan, also known as Maru Ganga, has become a big public garbage dump for industries, society and city corporations. This river, which originates in the Aravali hills in Ajmer district, flows through 330 km of the Thar Desert and passes through the districts of Pali, Nagaur, Jodhpur, Barmer, Jalore and finally ends in the Rann of Kutch. This river was recharged from ground water and was used to irrigate the surrounding villages.
However, man’s greed knows no end and the ignorant section of society has filled this river with waste. The dams on the river have further dried up the supply of water to the big cities. The industrial businesses of the cities on the banks of the river are polluting it with liquid and solid waste. Most of the dyeing-printing industries of Pali and Balotra are situated on the banks of the river and empty millions of litres of chemicals per day into it. The trash that is generated by the residents of towns and villages is also dumped in the river. The groundwater has also been completely polluted for several kilometres on the banks. And this is true for all rivers which have become garbage dumps.
Case 2
While the Green Revolution made the country self sufficient in food, the arbitrary use fertilisers has led to a spike in cancer cases.
The 12-coach Abohar-Jodhpur passenger train is called the “Cancer Train” due to a sudden increase in the disease in Punjab that many blame on pesticide use, growing pollution and hardly any response by authorities. This train carries hundreds of patients every day for treatment in a cancer hospital in Bikaner district of Rajasthan. The use of chemical fertilisers and insecticides for increasing the production of food grains has been a major cause of soil, water and air pollution which has caused cancer in the lives of many.
Case 3
During the Bhopal gas tragedy 1984, about 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and other chemicals leaked from the Union Carbide factory. This gas is extremely toxic and if its concentration in air touches 21 ppm (parts per million), it can cause death within minutes of inhaling the gas. During the leak, the level was multiple times higher.
Warren Anderson, the chairman and ceo of Union Carbide managed to escape from the country, aided by the government despite being responsible for this great human tragedy on an unprecedented scale. Even after 34 years, the victims still await justice. The welfare schemes of the government benefitted false financial companies, industrialists and corporate houses.
These are only three examples of innumerable others that show consequences of ignorance and that when the development of the country is measured only by economic growth, industrial production, market purchase and import export data.
The same producers and market forces introduce non-neutrality by ignoring national security, national law, and the laws related to environmental protection and people’s protection.
Today the situation is that all the rivers, oceans, the Earth, sky, air and water have become polluted because of so called ‘rapid’ development. The government is helpless in balancing and controlling these powers of development, but it would be more precise that the system also remains under the control of the productive and market forces. Managing the disposal of all kinds of waste that have been created from production, in which e-waste has also been added, is a matter of concern but accountability is lacking. While international conventions, seminars and announcements make tall claims about protecting the environment and making sustainability a part of development, the commitment to implement them is hollow.
One such international resolution is the SDG 1, which says, “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”.
Target 12.4 says, “By 2020, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimise their adverse impacts on human health and the environment.”
Target 12.5 says, “By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse.”
Target 12.6 says, “Encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle.”
In all the objectives it is mentioned that the exploitation of resources will be controlled by 2030, proper disposal of waste in which chemicals, liquids, concrete and so on will be encouraged and environmental degradation prevented, but nowhere does it say that it will be legally stopped. There is no mention of how the developed and developing countries will stop this. It can be said that balanced development around the world, environmental equilibrium and the will to implement resolutions for this is the need of the hour.
—Charkha features